Frontier Town Old Town

[Jackie Cat]

"Not a literal trail," mused Sonora, "but they mighta been seen headin' wherever they were headin', sure. To tell y'the truth, though, they were in Grand Quarry lookin' fer me an' my crew. They didn't know it was us hidin' out there..."

Sonora trailed off, her voice wistful and uncertain.

"Well, anyhow. Back then, those two sure seemed like they were just doin' ranger jobs, nothin' that'd merit summonin' you lot. 'Course, that'd change sharpish if they had a run-in with that Shadow lot, fer instance. No tellin' what made 'em vanish. Could be the same thing that took Sheriff Stranger – most folks assumed he went back to whatever world he came from as angels do, or he wanted to move on after he and his wife separated, but could be he was doin' his old job again. An angel's callin' bein' life-long and all."

 

[HelloYellow17]

Rangers. Wes twitched an ear, remembering the mention of them at the group meeting. “Do you know if they were working with an organization at all? A group? Or were they operating solo?”

Perhaps, if the rangers in town were familiar with Brisa, they’d know what she’d been up to…

 

[Jackie Cat]

Sonora shrugged. "Dunno, but something must've changed. Brisa wasn't in the Union fer years and years. Voclain wouldn't give her a sponsorship, so she stayed put and worked unofficially. Then after she vanished, the mayor made his kid marshal and hired a bunch of private security, and things got even worse'n before."

Sonora's grin turned devilish. "Brisa coulda put that bastard on his backside inside a minute, I'd bet you every dollar I got."

 

[HelloYellow17]

Wes gave a snort of amusement at Sonora’s devious expression. Whoever this Brisa was, she’d certainly carved out a reputation for herself. “Hah, I’ll take your word for it.” He pondered for a moment. “There’s a chance that prick of a former mayor knows something about what Brisa was up to. Or maybe was even partially responsible for her disappearance, somehow…?”

He shook his head with a huff. The quarry, the rangers, and now Volclain? Where did they even start? “Gods, I don’t even—there’s a reason I’m not a detective.” Well, lots of reasons, actually. “I’m not the best person for this sort of thing. But…if you have any idea of where to start looking, I’ll help in any way I can.” He grinned before sticking out a paw for a handshake. Pawshake? “We’ll figure this out. Together.”

 

[Jackie Cat]

Sonora's face broke into a much wider, brighter grin, as if she'd been given a surprise gift.

"You fuckin' bet on it," she said, shaking Wes' paw with a firm grip of her own. "I got an idea or two already, I can tell ya – if you offworlders really are here to help out Brisa and her friend, I'll do everythin' I can to make that happen."

The way she said it, it sounded like a promise.

<><><><><>​

 

[HelloYellow17]

Wes made his movements slow and deliberate, careful not to exacerbate his still healing injuries. After finally getting the go-ahead from Drungfield to leave her damned office, he was itching to put all his pent-up anxiety to good use, but he knew that he needed to pace himself properly this time if he didn’t want to end up back in the sickbed.

He’d found himself a patch of bare earth at a far end of the park, where the grass was more sparse and allowed room for sand and rock. He narrowed his eyes at his target—a stone perched atop a stump several yards away—and tried to focus his aim. Rocks quivered at his paws, and then with a small lunge, he sent them flying.

They clattered all around his target, but none of them made contact. Biting out a curse of frustration, he paced back to his starting position to try again. It was much easier to strike a Pokémon-sized target in general, true, but the more precise he could be with his aim, the more impactful each hit would be. Not to mention that adding some range to his moves wasn’t a bad idea.

He tried again, sending up a spray of sand as he darted forward. Pebbles flew in all directions this time, and only then did he notice someone was nearby and well within pelting range.

“Oh, shi—watch out!” he barked.

 

[Shadow Serenity]

Kimiko looked up just in time to receive a face-full of rocks.

Normally, she'd be out training near her secret spot around the outskirts of town. But after the drapion incident, she'd decided to stick closer to town until she felt fully healed. The park in an older section of Frontier Town made for an acceptable substitute training grounds; for whatever reason, she felt more energized in the garden and grass, probably something to do with her elemental affinity.

There was only a bit more activity here than her normal spot, but it was still quieter than being on the main road, which she was fine with. She'd made a couple friends, but it had been generally more difficult than she'd expected, so she'd taken to spending her time alone recently anyway. She hadn't been alone here today, however... but the blue rockruff who's name she'd already forgotten seemed keen on just getting right to business. He probably also couldn't sit still while he recovered from the battle, a feeling Kimiko shared, and they left each other to their own training.

She winced with a small grunt of discomfort as she pulled herself from underneath the pile she'd been buried by; her side wound was healing already, but some of those rocks had scraped it. Thankfully, it seemed like whoever threw them had been training, themselves; most of them weren't much larger than pebbles, clearly not meant to do any real damage.

As she got back to her feet, she caught the rockruff looking her way looking a bit frazzled. She should probably say something. "You're lunging too sharply," she noted. "Too much tension in your legs. Harder to keep your eye on your target when you jolt so suddenly."

She hadn't meant it to sound as snippy as it did, and she averted her gaze to the ground at his feet, feeling awkward. She rubbed at a bump on her head as she made to turn around and go back to her own practice.

 

[HelloYellow17]

Wes swore again as the pebbles bounced off that bossy snake lady’s head. Spitting sands, of all the damn people, it had be her. He rushed over, flustered and stammering. “Shit, sorry, didn’t realize you were—you okay?”

He bristled a little when she snapped at him, but he couldn’t really hold that against her. She seemed fine, at least, if a little frazzled.

Wes sighed and glared at the grass while she rebuked him. “Can’t seem to put force into it without darting forward,” he grumbled, more upset at himself than anyone else. He looked back at her. “You wouldn’t…happen to have any other ideas, maybe?”

 

[Shadow Serenity]

"I'm fine," she lied through grit teeth, wincing a bit as she turned back around. She rolled her eyes; there was no way he'd miss that. "Felt worse, anyway."

And then... he was asking for her input? She blinked at him, momentarily caught off guard. "Well, er... if you're focusing on accuracy, try lunging less suddenly. Relax your legs a bit, keep your eye on the b- er, target. Then once you can hit it consistently, then you can worry about adding some force."

She looked down towards his paws, and she frowned. Was he still healing, too? Kimiko thought she'd gotten the worst of the drapion, discounting Steven, who had been just about out cold before anyone even got there, but maybe the rockruff was just better at hiding it...

"Should... you even be out here?" she asked hesitantly, with a gesture at his legs.

 

[HelloYellow17]

He definitely noticed her wince, but he chose not to comment on it. Or, well, he wasn’t going to, until she commented on his condition.

Wes gave her a look. “Kind of rich of you to ask, don’t you think?” he quipped. “You don’t look so hot yourself.”

He glanced back at at his target practice setup. “Thanks…for the tip, anyway,” he said. “I’ll have to test it. What are you doing here, anyway?” You had the whole damn park and somehow managed to get into my line of fire, he thought, but decided it was best not to say that out loud.

 

[Shadow Serenity]

Kimiko bit her lip at his retort. Yeah, she walked into that one. "You saw how bad that shadow thing got me. I can't afford to be... slacking off."

She looked him over again and decided to ask what she'd been wondering earlier. "What about you? You didn't seem to have any problems with your aim in that fight. So... are you still hurting or just have something on your mind?"

 

[HelloYellow17]

Wes nodded sympathetically at Kimiko’s first statement, then snorted at her question. Hell, what wasn’t on his mind? Where would he even begin to…?

“Ran into the Wolf a few days ago. With Archie.” How much should he say? How much was relevant? “Turns out he is Shadow like we had heard. Huge asshole, too. Gave us a pretty solid beating.” He couldn’t hide the bitterness in his tone as he said that. Weak, Seth’s voice hissed in his ear. Too weak to do anything on your own, so you need the help of others. You’re a burden.

“Turns out he’s an offworlder, too. But not just any random guy; he’s me. Or a version of myself from some…some other universe, I guess, who the hell even knows, and—and—he’s bent on solving the Shadow crisis here alone, has promised to maul anybody who gets in his way. Oh, and he’s from some kinda future version of my world where everything is shit.”

It all came tumbling out in practically one breath before he could stop himself. He glared at the pebbles around his paws, not sure he wanted to see whatever look Kimiko would have on her face.

“So. There’s that.”

 

[Shadow Serenity]

As she listened to the rockruff, Kimiko blinked back at him. Gods, she needed to find a way to stay in the loop... or had she somehow missed Betel sharing this with them? When had this all happened? It had to be some time after the drapion fight... there was no way Wes would have been able to fight like that if he'd just had an encounter with the Wolf, of all people. The fact that they survived the encounter had her wondering how, especially since it sounded like this Wolf was somehow more aware of himself than the drapion had been.

Her thoughts drifted to Archie with fresh worry. She hadn't seen much of the oshawott since their initial landing, and she'd been meaning to catch up eventually... She wanted to ask about him, but she figured it would have been big news if something drastic had happened, so she put it on the back burner for now.

"Well, fuck," she said. Where did she even start? There was so much to unpack here... No wonder the guy couldn't focus on pebbles.

She rubbed the back of her head with a vine, inadvertantly feeling a bump from one of those pebbles. Why did Wes' story feel familair to her? "I'll never get used to all of this... 'other universe' and body doubles stuff. But uh... just because his world went to shit doesn't mean yours will end up the same way, y'know?"

Why was that where her mind went to first? There were far bigger implications here... like the Wolf being yet another example of someone brought to Forlas without Betel's assistance, for example. And what was that first bit??

"Sounds like you got a lot of info from- wait a second, what? He's a shadow who's trying to solve the shadow crisis? In what universe does that make sense? Did you find out where he came from? I mean, who made him shadow and how he got away? And why he's not... feral-like?" Or, well... not to the extent of the drapion, anyway.

 

[HelloYellow17]

He scoffed. “Hardly got shit from him, other than what I told you. He was as uncooperative as a person could get. Made that Nolan guy seem downright charming.” He wasn’t sure if Kimiko had acquainted herself with that mon, but she wasn’t missing out on anything if she hadn’t. This place is full of self-righteous pricks. Gods.

“He did say something though that was…interesting.” Wes frowned as he recalled the Lycanroc’s words. “Something about how there were way too many of us offworlders here, and it was putting too much ‘pressure on the fabric of space-time’ and threatening to poke holes in reality. Or whatever.” He shifted slightly, feeling a chill. “I don’t…I don’t know what he means by that, exactly. Or if any of it is true. Or how he of all people would even know that. But it’s been…on my mind.” Among other things.

 

[Shadow Serenity]

"Sure sounds like it," Kimiko agreed. "Certainly not a ringing endorsement. Haven't met either of 'em, and can't say I'm eager to. And yet... it sounds like we have a similar goal. I doubt that's the last we'll see of him, but... What are the odds we'd actually get in his way?" She definitely didn't want to entertain the 'but ally?' angle her brain wanted to latch on to. Allying themselves with one of the shadows would be a fantastic look for them.

Kimiko shrugged off his second comment. "That sounds very science fiction. If our being here was causing a problem somehow, surely Betel would be aware of it. ...Right?"

Of course, as soon as she confidently said it aloud, she second guessed herself. Betel was doing their best, but they'd also proven to have... gaps in their knowledge. The ability to transport their group to Forlas in one party, for example. And it wasn't like odd space-time shit wasn't a known event elsewhere... "I mean, I guess none of our group are natives, so just bringing us here is sort of 'poking holes in reality' but... that's been a thing known to happen here in the past, long before we ever got here. And... there's more than just our group that fall into that category, like the Wolf, or whoever was summoned before us. Was the Wolf implying it was just our group specifically that was causing a problem?" She supposed it could be the sheer number of off-worlders all at once, but for some reason, that wasn't the feeling she was getting...

Either way, she shook her head. "He's you, you said? He'd already gotten under your skin, so he was probably just trying to scare us all into leaving." She said that uncertainly; she wasn't taking the shadow voice's dream threats as more than exactly that - threats meant to scare them away - and figured the Wolf was doing something similar. But it definitely was bothering Wes...

 

[HelloYellow17]

Wes shook his head. “I don’t…I don’t know. I mean, yeah, we’ve heard of offworlders other than ourselves, and we know it’s a thing that happens here. But has this world ever had so many sent here all at once? From what I’ve heard, it doesn’t sound like it.”

He dug at the grass and sand with his claws. “What if…he’s right? There’s a chance he isn’t and he’s just pulling things out of thin air to sound like he knows what he’s about.” That sounds like something he’d do. “But he seemed real serious about this. Oh, and he mentioned that he’s been hearing his own voice that’s been coaching him, too—warning him. About us.”

He curled his lip and gouged a mark in the ground. Dammit all. Every time he tried to find answers, he only ended up with more questions. And more injuries. And more enemies. Couldn’t this godsforsaken world throw them a bone? Just one? Was it not enough that he was already a failure in his own world?

 

[Shadow Serenity]

But has this world ever had so many sent here all at once?

"No, I... I feel like I recall someone explicitly saying a group of our size was unheard of..." Kimiko sighed. Even if they were causing a problem just by being here, it was too late to do anything about it now. They were already here. The damage had been done. Unless... somehow their constant presence was still somehow a factor...?

She gave him an uneasy look at the next bit. "He's been hearing a voice too? Like... like the nightmare voice we all had after the drapion battle?" Several of the group had had these sorts of visions after a shadow encounter so far, but she'd been putting them down to nightmares or lingering shadow-tainted remnants, but... "And it's been coaching him? Is this the same voice?"

She frowned at the mark Wes made in the dirt in frustration, and sighed. He was really upset. But Kimiko had no idea how to try to ease his mind... She didn't feel particularly upbeat right now, but talking about things didn't seem to be helping. She tried to lighten her tone. "Of course he sounded serious about it. Wouldn't be very threatening if he added 'just kidding' to the end, would it?"

Kimiko was reminded of something else he'd told her earlier, and decided to take a stab in the dark. "Besides, this all sounds like problems we all have to deal with... And you don't strike me as a guy with thin skin, so stop letting him get under it. Just because he's chosen to suffer alone doesn't mean you have to, yeah? If he gets in our way, we'll throw his attitude back at him."

 

[HelloYellow17]

“Seems like it’s the same voice, yeah. Hard to be certain of anything anymore, though.” He rolled his eyes. “With our luck, there’s some third hostile voice entity out there. Who knows.”

He offered a small, weary smile at Kimiko’s encouragement. It didn’t resolve the storm of thoughts that clouded his head, but…somehow, it did help a little. “We do have strength in numbers…but this guy is no joke. He’s more than capable of killing…and he’s not afraid to do it, either.”

 

[Shadow Serenity]

"I wouldn't be surprised," the snivy replied, voice flat. "This whole situation was never gonna be black and white. Too many factions, too many variables." Gods knew it would be a whole lot simpler for them all if they could just know who was trustworthy...

"And the drapion wasn't?" she continued. "I'm not saying we need to intentionally piss him off or anything, but... we can't afford to let him scare us off, either. He can do what he wants. We'll do our thing. Shouldn't be too hard not to interfere with each other." She wasn't sure how much she believed that, but it was better than stressing about the alternative.

Throughout all this, she wasn't sure if her words were actually sinking in. Maybe there was something else bothering him...?

She posed her next question cautiously, hoping to gauge his response. "You say this guy is you... so what about you? It must be... unsettling, seeing your double and seeing things in them that you don't like or don't want to believe about yourself..." She didn't want to say it directly, so she stopped herself there. But the implication hung in the air... if the Wolf was capable of killing, and he and Wes were the same person...?

 

[HelloYellow17]

Wes bristled a little. “I never said I was gonna let him scare me off. But we can’t underestimate him, either.” He let out a breath and forced himself to relax; Kimiko was just trying to reassure him, that was all. “I have no intention of letting that bastard have his way. He’s dangerous, and whatever he’s planning, I have a hard time believing it’ll actually be good for anybody. For this world. Not if he’s taking coaching from that Shadow voice.”

Something else gnawed at him—the part of him that wanted to face Seth again, at war with the part of him that wanted to turn and flee at the very idea of it. The part that seethed at the idea of them being the same, at the thought that Wes would ever be like him. And as Kimiko cautiously questioned him, looking him up and down with an almost analytical gaze, that part went bubbled to the surface.

“He is not my double,” Wes hissed. “I mean—he is, in some kind of way, but he—I—we are not the same person. I’m no saint, but I’m not some—some—homicidal, egotistical maniac who’d rather burn the whole world down than be wrong.”

Aren’t you? Did you not literally burn your own bridges out of shame?

No, he fired back, clenching his teeth. We are not the same. We will never be the same.

If only he fully believed that.